Every possible brownfield site in Dudley will be be looked at for housing, chief says

Councillor Patrick Harley said the council is aiming to use only previously-developed sites, with the official process – the "call for sites" – starting shortly.

It comes after the council leader said he felt "vindicated" by a decision to withdraw from the Black Country Plan amid a potential Government rule change.

The proposal would free each authority of any obligation to review green belt land for potential housing use, as was the case, with a focus on brownfield sites.

Councillor Harley, leader of the authority, said: "This announcement by the government, shows that our brownfield first approach has been vindicated and we anticipate that, subject to the policy being approved that we will be able to exclude green belt from all future proposals.

"We have always been a brownfield first authority and we will continue in this vein.

"This renewed call for sites means that we will be looking at every single possible site for development while leaving our precious green belt out of consideration and I would urge people to submit any new brownfield sites to us for consideration."

The council will start the ‘call for sites’ process early this month and will run for six weeks. People have been asked to submit new sites through the process. Sites which have previously been submitted do not need to be resubmitted as they are already in the assessment process.

Only new sites or previous sites, where information may have changed, since their last submission should be put forward.

Following the submission, officers will assess the sites. Those sites which are considered as being suitable for development will be included in the Draft Dudley Plan which will be published for a six-week public consultation over the summer.